Category Red-Tape

Question Time Just before I flew home to Canada I was asked by my inept agent, Tony Robinson OBE, to chair a ‘Question Time’ type debate at a large micro business conference in his home town of Scarborough. Micro businesses (0-9 employees) are, apparently, quite important to the UK. There are 4.5 million of them…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature… that the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered.” Thomas Paine (1737-1809) British politician, philosopher &…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “You cannot extend the mastery of the Government over the daily working life of a people without at the same time making it the master of people’s souls and thoughts.” Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) US president, campaign speech (22 October 1928) To view…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “My government’s number one priority is poverty reduction and we strongly believe that this can be achieved through an active and vibrant private sector.” Bakili Muluzi (b. 1943) Malawian president, speech, South Africa Business Association (5 May 2000) To view previous quotes…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “The task of government policy is not to prejudge winners but to make sure that neither private nor public restraints narrow the potential sources of innovation.” Anne K. Bingaman (b. 1943) US lawyer, speech, University of Kansas Law School (19 September 1996) …

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “And that, in my view, is what the whole controversy comes down to. Are you entitled to the fruits of your own labour, or does government have some presumptive right to spend and spend and spend?” Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) US former president &…

On 30th April the UK Government published draft legislation that proposed to bring the Remedies Directive into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This Directive will make significant changes to the remedies available to third parties when public procurement rules are breached. The main changes are: If the contract was entered into in breach…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace… On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone… You have no sovereignty where we gather.” John Perry Barlow (b. 1947)…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “Despite efforts by government throughout the years to prevent concentration in industry, the regulators are bringing us to the point where only the largest companies can survive.” Henry Ford (1919-87) US car manufacturer & CEO of Ford Motor Company, ‘The High Cost of…

A small business quote a day keeps you thinking, inspired and entertained. “Governments are facing more and more competition… they are losing power to multinational businesses, commercial organisations, and big media, as well as to small businesses that operate worldwide over the Net.” Esther Dyson (b. 1951) US knowledge entrepreneur & government advisor, speech ‘The…